2018 Yunnan Sourcing "Guardian" Blended Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake

Tea type
Pu'erh Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Black Pepper, Chili, Stonefruit, Alcohol, Coffee, Cookie, Cucumber, Drying, Earth, Forest Floor, Fruity, Grapes, Grass, Milk, Mineral, Moss, Mushrooms, Oats, Pepper, Spicy, Sweet, Tart, Umami, Vegetal, Vinegar, Wood, Apple, Apple Skins, Astringent, Bitter, Compost, Cream, Floral, Honey, Thick, Grass Seed, Herbs, Meat, Nutty, Pear, Walnut
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Togo
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 4 oz / 118 ml

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6 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Date drunk: 6 Feb 2023 It’s funny how “letting go” of expectations can sometimes allow you to see the best in something. I’d made up my mind to finish off this sample as a daily drinker, and...” Read full tasting note
    70
  • “Gongfu Sipdown (1636)! Just starting a session with this sheng; it’s my first tea session in a couple days since I was feeling a little bit out of it. I wanted to drink something new, so I’m trying...” Read full tasting note
    77
  • “This sheng continues its journey and by now produces a distinctly orange-coloured liqour. In its taste, there is still some grassiness, but fairly subdued. Today I noted a more nutty profile with...” Read full tasting note
    92

From Yunnan Sourcing

This is a unique blend of three different high quality spring 2018 raw pu-erh teas from Lincang and Simao. We relentlessly blended teas from various sources and ratios together to create a powerful and balanced tea that is worthy of long term aging.

The result is a thick golden tea soup with a whole spectrum of flavors and aromas that will continually transform with the passing of time. A powerful tea!

We decided to to call this tea “Guardian” in honor of dogs everywhere! A guardian is protective, strong, loyal, and relentless. Even the smallest of dogs will protect their owner to their dying breath, and even the poorest of owners will have a loyal friend and guardian in a dog. Dogs not only protect us, but also offer their gift of unconditional love!

357 grams per cake (7 cakes per bamboo leaf tong)
First Flush of Spring 2018 Harvested Tea
150 kilograms in total produced (420 cakes)
Wrapper Illustration by Daniel Mervis

This tea has been tested in a certified laboratory for 191 pesticides, and is within the EU MRL limits set for those 191 pesticide residues.

About Yunnan Sourcing View company

Company description not available.

6 Tasting Notes

70
261 tasting notes

Date drunk: 6 Feb 2023

It’s funny how “letting go” of expectations can sometimes allow you to see the best in something. I’d made up my mind to finish off this sample as a daily drinker, and decided to just brew it casually on a fast-paced work morning – 4g in a partially-filled 140ml Yixing pot, at 100˚C (instead of my usual 90-95˚C for shengs). 1st infusion tasted a bit astringent and overbrewed when hot, but was decent when cooled down. I combined 2nd and 3rd infusions into the same cup to drink while working. Wow the liquor tastes so nice and light, breezy, yet still flavourful… puts me in mind of green mango / green papaya, and springtime. I should brew shengs in this manner more often :)

To me this tea (at this stage) is mellow and smooth, fruity grounded with astringency and a bit of spice, but still not mind-blowing. Now I get a bit more of the hype around this cake, but as it would be used as a daily drinker for me, I still can’t justify paying USD 92 for 357g of this.

Rating: 70

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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77
15575 tasting notes

Gongfu Sipdown (1636)!

Just starting a session with this sheng; it’s my first tea session in a couple days since I was feeling a little bit out of it. I wanted to drink something new, so I’m trying this tea sample that I received from Togo a little while back. The complex and almost waxy red fruit aroma of the dry leaf is what attracted me to the sample initially, though it’s tasting fairly different from that now that I’m a few steeps in. Just more upfront grassy bitterness and astringency than anticipated, but after that the body settles into a bit more of a pleasant orchard fruit flavour. Lots of floral pear and almost a classically sweet red apple note. Quince, maybe? There’s a little something smoky hiding in there, but I’m digging it with the orchard fruit notes!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CcbAcyguvCO/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m4Bv20VTd8&ab_channel=StolenNova

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92
943 tasting notes

This sheng continues its journey and by now produces a distinctly orange-coloured liqour. In its taste, there is still some grassiness, but fairly subdued. Today I noted a more nutty profile with mild fermentation tartness, pepperiness (like rocket) as well as notes of oregano, pear, walnuts and grass seeds. Its aftertaste is nicely warming, which is interesting to see in a young tea like this one.

Flavors: Apple, Bitter, Cream, Grass, Grass Seed, Herbs, Meat, Nutty, Pear, Pepper, Sweet, Tart, Walnut

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 8 g 5 OZ / 150 ML
derk

Have you had this since it was released?

Togo

Indeed, it’s one of the few cakes I got without sampling and I’m definitely not regretting I did :)

derk

It’s also one of my few blind cakes and I’ve had it since release. Haven’t drank it yet, though. Maybe I should so we can compare notes over time :)

derk

Oh, no, I misspoke. I have more than a few blind cakes :3

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